Mike Epps gained success in a stand-up comedy contest in Indiana and he moved to Atlanta and appeared at the Comedy Act Theater. From there he moved to Manhattan and in the mid nineties, Epps went on the Def Comedy Jam tour and starred in two of the Def Comedy Jam broadcasts.

A decade later and Mike Epps was hosting the 2006 edition of Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam.

Mike Epps's first movie was Vin Diesel's Strays - the independent film, which Diesel wrote, directed, produced and starred in was an attempt by Diesel to make headway in the film industry.

Mike Epps followed up with several movies with Ice Cube including Next Friday, How High, Friday After Next, and All About the Benjamins. Filmcritic.com had an interesting interview with Ice Cube and Mike Epps, in which Ice Cube says:

"Me and Epps, we've become good friends through this. Definitely, it helps us on screen with the chemistry."

Epps has also starred in Bait with Jamie Foxx, The Fighting Temptations, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, and The Honeymooners.

The BBC reported that Mike Epps had signed to play Richard Pryor in a biopic. Mike Epps hasn't just been acting, he's been busy with his comedy as well. He made a national tour and performed stand-up in the HBO special, Inappropriate Behavior as well as hosting Def Comedy Jam.